


The Difficulty that Comes with Kith and Kin

by Wintercameandwent



Series: Living with Regret of the Chance Not Taken [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Rhaegar Won, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bittersweet, Canon Divergence - Robert's Rebellion, Consequences, F/M, Jon Snow's Name is Jaehaerys, Light Angst, No character bashing, Not Beta Read, Not always Rhaegar and Lyanna friendly, POV Daenerys Targaryen, POV Rhaella Targaryen, POV Viserys Targaryen, Post-Canon Fix-It, Rhaegar loves Elia and Lyanna
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:49:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22313560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wintercameandwent/pseuds/Wintercameandwent
Summary: As Rhaegar brings his two families together on Dragonstone, his mother, sister, and brother are there to witness this reunification.Long awaited reunions, judgments, distrust, and divided loyalties find these Targaryens as they try to navigate Rhaegar's newly expanded family.
Relationships: Daenerys Targaryen & Rhaella Targaryen & Viserys Targaryen, Daenerys Targaryen & Viserys Targaryen, Elia Martell/Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen, Rhaella Targaryen & Viserys Targaryen
Series: Living with Regret of the Chance Not Taken [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591549
Comments: 43
Kudos: 128
Collections: Southern Renaissance (Dorne Renaissance)





	1. The Boy Didn’t Understand...But The Man Does

**Author's Note:**

> So when I started this part, I thought I would need about 2 weeks, but clearly my imagination didn't think so. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A parched mouth has Viserys Targaryen running the tip of his tongue over his lips, in an attempt to provide temporary relief from the lack of moisture to be found, as his ship sails up the Blackwater to its final destination...Dragonstone. A raven from his mother with news that the dead has risen sent Viserys on the voyage back to his family seat. 

Elia and her children lived, not only had they lived but another niece was born, and no one outside of Dorne was the wiser until recently...

Upon receipt of the letter, Viserys didn’t know what to do with the information. It had been years since Viserys lived close to his family, years since he had been immersed in all things Rhaegar. When made to ponder his feelings towards his oldest sibling, Viserys believes the best course of action is that of feeling ambivalent but those opinions are kept close to his chest and the air of certainty is what he presents to the rest of the realm. 

Staying far enough from the Red Keep and away from his brother allows for the illusion to maintain. However, to those closest to both men the truth is silently understood, but never addressed out in the open. Ignoring Viserys judgement of Rhaegar has worked to keep the impression of fraternity. Not that Viserys goes out of his way to make his impressions known. 

Viserys has always treated Rhaegar with respect due his station as King. He is courteous towards his good-sister, Lyanna, but their introduction to each other came on the heels of the deaths of those his young tender heart had loved before. 

As for his nephews, he found a lot in common with Jaehaerys...their love of history, warcraft, and the delight in small intimate conversations about worthwhile topics. Daeron is a spirited young man who enjoys hearing of his uncle’s exploits as Viserys travels often to Essos. His goal is to travel one day with Viserys. 

He admits to keeping Aemon at a distance. The young man presents an image to the world, but quietly works to undo the appearance by his own actions. He has a type of arrogance that can only lead to trouble. A lover of gratification with little thought of the fallout...a justification always on the tip of his silver tongue. _It’s a behavior he’s seen before, but because of his youth and inexperience Viserys hadn’t understood what he was seeing, but now a man grown he knows what it was...he saw it once in another man with Valyrian features much like his own._

Living over a decade in the Westerlands, as the new lord of what was once called Casterly Rock, but now is referred to as Dragonshield...a place that has protected him from the ills that follow his name. His home, his wife, his children...his shelter. 

Married four year, his Jayne wasn’t a love match, but a political one. The Westerling's gained a link to the royal family for their loyalty towards the Crown instead of their liege lord, Tywin Lannister, and with it a masterful elevation in status. Their marriage started as a duty but Viserys remembered another Targaryen who looked at such a political union as a duty, and what befell that couple. No Viserys made an effort to know and love his wife and it has paid him back in kind. Jayne would never be made to feel like and Elia...she didn’t deserve it any more than the Ellie did. He refused to learn to late; that he had found love with his wife, but was too blind to see it. 

Ellie...Viserys hadn’t thought of that name in so long...his special name for Elia, the one he would only call her in private. If he closed his eyes he could see her soft smile and gentle eyes looking at him as he told her some story his maester taught him. With a three-year old child of his own, he realizes the infinite patience she had to listen to his painstakingly detailed stories...and she had, for years, even before she had children of her own. 

When she didn’t think he was watching he would see how her smile would disappear and her eyes would wander. He wonder where she went during those times. One day he told his mother about his observations and she admonished him to never ask Elia her reasons...to give her that freedom to _just be_ in the rare moments of quiet the Keep could afford her. _Again, Viserys the boy didn’t understand, but the man now does._

His young heart mourned the loss of Elia, but it was news of Rhaenys death that introduced Viserys to the first throes of a broken heart. A grief that submerged him more often than not. If he allowed himself to dwell on it, Viserys could feel a strong wave of it hit him so firmly he would be hard pressed to not fall under the weight of the force. It’s never one wave...no, it’s a long consecutive set that seems to feel more intense as he weakens under the pain that he tries not to let consume him. As a child it terrified his mother, ever watchful of him as she tried to manage her own anguish. _Another example of Viserys the boy not understanding, but the man can see._

Now he is on his way to see them...Elia, Rhaenys...and even Aegon...the small babe who is now a man, and Viserys doesn’t quite know what to do with the pain and heartache of their shared past. He tries to find a way to let the information lessen his negative feelings for his brother and place blame at Elia’s feet, but he finds himself still angrier at Rhaegar than at Elia. While the boy in him wants to absolve his brother, the man sees all his brother’s machinations that led to this outcome. He can’t truly blame Elia for it...didn’t he want to escape it all at some point...hadn’t he. Can he truly blame her for something she was able to achieve earlier than he could?

As the vessel gets closer to the island, he can see the castle and for a moment he wonders what awaits him behind those walls, and he prays that he strong enough to walk away whole...for when too many dragons are clustered together we tend to turn on each other.

*****

The sun was beginning to rise as the small boat ran up against the shore, Viserys was surprised to see his nephew, Jaehaerys, waiting for him. Hopping out of the vessel he helped the other men push it away from the sea and further onto dry land. Giving his men their final orders, Viserys walked over to his nephew. A quiet and formal young man...like his brother.

“Uncle.” The younger man smiled as he reached out to grip his uncle’s forearm in greeting. 

“Jaehaerys. It’s good to see you.”

“Same to you. I hope your family is well. How was your journey?” The men began to walk towards the steps that would lead then to the castle. 

“You aunt and cousins are good considering the voyage from Dragonshield to Kings Landing is a bit boring for the children. Your aunt sends her warm regards though. As for this jaunt over the Bay, with the exceptions of two new greenhorns earning their place, it was pretty uneventful.” He sighed deeply wondering if he should ignore the burning question he has rising to the forefront of his mind. His trust in Jaehaerys to tell him as close to an unvarnished truth is strong, so he proceeds. 

“Is it too early to ask if it has been just a placid here?” Viserys quirked an eyebrow up, a trait he shared with both is siblings. 

Jaehaerys stalls and turns to his uncle, after a bit he turns his head forward, as to what he is looking at Viserys couldn’t say but it held the young man’s attention for some time. “It’s odd, if I am honest.”

“How so?” Viserys prods. Jaehaerys gestures to continue their walk. 

“Father is more cautious and deliberate in his behavior. He makes it a point to have my brothers and I engage with his other children. We have one thing in common and it seems as though that is what Father intends to use to help us to accept one another.”

“Hmmm...what is it that you have common? Do you find it helpful...in getting to know each other that is?” Viserys inquired, but was intrigued as to what six people, four men and two women would have as a commonality. Horses, books, perhaps music...Sevens no, not music, he thought. 

Jaehaerys barks out a laugh, but forces the second one down instead of out. “Sparring...and yes it is helpful...to a degree. How one fight tells you a lot about them? It also gives you an outlet for emotions better left unfelt.”

“So, you spar together? Even with your sisters?” He wondered why that sounded odd to him; his travels have taken him to some places where he has witnessed the fierceness women can display in physical combat. The Dornish being a prime example, and considering his nieces were raised there he should have expected they would be skilled...but for some reason it did not. 

“Is that the only time you spend in their presence?”

“No. I have actually spent a fair amount of time with Aegon. He’s not like any Targaryen I have ever met.”

“How so?”

“He laughs...freely and often.” Jaehaerys deadpans to Viserys, making him chuckle quietly at his nephews jape. “I also spend time with Visenya...both are avid riders. So Daeron and I, we share that with them...almost daily.”

“Visenya...what’s she like?”

“Protective, strong, skilled...a bit ruthless, if I’m being honest...at least in combat. Like her namesake I guess.”

“What of Rhaenys?” Viserys asked carefully. Knowing himself and his limits regarding that particular niece.

“She looks like her mother, but Grandmother has told me she _‘looks more’_. I am not sure what that means. She said something about having had known Queen Elia before now. Perhaps you will see what it is she speaks of. When she is not sparring, she spends much of her time in the kennels, or with her mother or with Grandmother.”

“Not Daenerys?” Viserys thought his sister might enjoy the company of a woman close to her in age. At least a woman whose family doesn’t have a political agenda tied to their friendship.

“Well not usually. Daenerys and Aemon spend a lot of their time together exploring the island or they are with Mother.” Jaehaerys voice tapers off.

“And your father? Dare I say, his wives...” Viserys asked, flinching internally at the discomfort he is sure this question brings to his nephew. 

“When he isn’t with us, or working in his solar, he is spending his time with either Queen...separately.” Jaehaerys own brow quirked with much unsaid. 

“And the Queens?” Knowing his nephew would pick up on what he was asking.

“They are civil during shared moments, such as meal times, but they have yet to be alone with only each other for company. Queen Elia keeps to her spaces and my mother remains in hers. On the few occasions I have seen them walking in the same hallway, they walk past each other without words, but their countenances are in a screaming match. Its palpable, the strained between them.” The young man took a turn to sigh deeply.

Reaching out a hand to hold his nephews shoulder, bring the dark-haired man closer to him, Viserys spoke kindly. “Jae, they have so much history...” Viserys looked up to the brightening sky, hoping for the right words that are true, but that don’t demean the good relationship his brother and good-sister cultivated with their son. 

“...the kind that a simple apology cannot correct. I do not think the infection that has taken hold of that wound can be cleared with a hope and a wish. The enormity of this type of injury requires a maester’s hand to cut away the rot. Once that is done, nothing will ever be the same...nothing will be what it once was. They will need to figure out if they can move forward, and how, very much like a soldier who has lost a limb. There is nothing you or I can do to mitigate the impact of it. This is their lot...whether they chose it for themselves or another selected this path for them.”

Jaehaerys nods, and forces a smile that Viserys knows he doesn’t feel, but all on the island will make the effort for the alternative is a fate most people would prefer to avoid.

“On to better news...where is your Grandmother? Don’t think I don’t know she sent you to fetch me.” Viserys smirked.

The small snort that bubbled out of Jaehaerys made Viserys feel a little bit less guilty about their conversation.

*****

After being a dutiful son spending a quiet moment with his mother, he made his way to his brother’s chamber. The resemblance between them is strong, and at times Viserys wish it wasn’t so apparent. But what they share in looks contrast greatly in their dissimilarity of character, at least Viserys hopes so.

Rhaegar left Viserys in his antechamber while he went to inform Elia of his arrival. Walking out onto the balcony, he looked out to the sea and wondered if his arrival would serve to hasten an already tense situation. As much as he wants to see Elia and her children...he wasn’t sure if this was the right time...or place. 

He did not have to wait long for someone to return. Thinking he would be presented as protocols would dictate, and in the manner he has always shown to prefer when interacting with Lyanna, he was unprepared for the gasp followed by the voice he heard behind him. 

“Viserys.”

Viserys knew that voice. It was a voice he tried hard to remember once upon a time...a goal of a young child. It seems he had not forgotten it; he just couldn’t conjure it after much time had pass...but when he heard it. Gods. Elia. 

He knew he should turn around, full body, a sign of respect, but he was stunned and found he could only move his head, and he did...he turned to see her. 

She was like he remembered, yet different, older. Her eyes though, the softness in her gaze that always brought him peace when his father was on a tirade or demanded his mother’s presence. Viserys had Elia, and she protected him as well as she could when his mother could not. 

He is not sure when he moved, but what he does remember was the tight embrace they shared. Viserys lowered himself and presses his face into her neck, yes unbecoming he knew, but he returned to the child he once was without his permission...if only for a moment. He thought at some point that perhaps his arms were to tight around her, but then he noticed how strong she clinched him. A familiar activity between them, but that felt different. She was different, as was he. 

Viserys hadn’t realized that a tear or two had escaped until Elia wiped them away from his cheeks with her thumb. She held his face and didn’t let go. He found he had not wanted her to...not yet...so he rested his hands on hers and gazed into the warm eyes that were a source of goodness in a very unstable place. 

“Elia. I have missed you dearly my good-sister.” Viserys could see Rhaegar in the outer periphery of his sight, as his brother quietly shut the door, leaving him and Elia to become reacquainted.

*****

Viserys spent a good portion of his morning with Elia. The noonday meal was fast approaching and Viserys did not want to see Rhaenys for the first time in a chamber full of people. He was aware that Lyanna knew he kept her at a distance, though she made a genuine effort to get to know him. Her sons could see the reservation that stemmed from him, and her regular attempts to connect. The comparison between how he behaved in Lyanna’s presence versus Daenerys was already obvious. Once they all see him with Elia, that aloofness will appear more profound and look taunting and cruel, which has never been Viserys goal.

The affection for Elia trickled onto Rhaenys when she was born, and then as they grew up together he began to love her for the being she was and not only as an extension of Elia. 

Elia walked him to the hill where it appears Rhaenys enjoyed going to...in an effort to find privacy and escape from the pressure this reunion has placed on her. Viserys could see a young woman wearing an olive dress...from this distance he could see it was cut in a Dornish style...sitting on the grass. Her arms wrapped around her legs, the warm summer winds blowing her dark hair away from her. A flock of birds fly above the sea, several fly over her in an effort to catch up with their kin. She lifts her head, her gaze following the birds, a wide smile takes over her face. 

“Wow, she’s grown. I mean I knew this, but to see it. She looks a lot like you...the way I remember you to look when I was a boy.” Viserys could hear the wonderment in his voice. “Except you didn’t smile so widely.” He murmured.

“Yes, the resemblance is strong. Your memory serves you well Viserys. I do not think I every smiled like she does.” Elia gently replied as she squeezed his hand. 

“Go...go say your greetings. We thought you might have arrived today. By now she knows you’re here. If I know my daughter, and I do, she has given us our time but she has been waiting for you. I do not want to tell you much about her for I think there is a reward in learning about each other again, but I will say her memories of our time here are unclear. Your father’s voice, the sounds of battle within the Keep during the siege, the things she remembers they come in distorted pictures in her mind. The one thing that she took with her from here, the one thing that has always been clear to her...was you.” Elia’s lips trembled, her eyes wet, but then again hers were not the only ones. 

“Thank you, Ellie.” A soft laugh escaped her lip on the tail of a quiet sob. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and pushed him towards her... _the first and best friend he ever had._

She seemed to have sensed a change in the air, for the young woman looked up as though she could be prey who sensed a predator near, but then she relaxed as though she was aware that a friend was near. He walked towards her with long purposeful strides. The dark-haired woman spun to see who was watching her. When she saw him she looked confused, as though she couldn’t understand who he was, but Viserys knew she was taking in his changes just as he tried to absorb hers. 

Rhaenys stood up, her face alight as she ran towards him. Arms extended, he caught her and crushed her to him, terrified to let her go and find that this was just a horrible dream. Her arms wrapped around his waist told him it wasn’t...this moment was real. Rhaenys was real. 

“Vissy...” Her cries against his chest were loud and ugly, but Viserys would not let her go, her sounds made him holder tighter. His heart breaking with every sob that shuttered through her. 

“Nysa. Gods, I’ve missed you.” Viserys whispered into her hair. His voice sounding wet to his own ears.

He could tell she was trying to control her outburst, but the emotions fought hard against her will, and her resulting sobs seemed harsh on a woman so slender. 

“I took you with me. Always.” Her voice laced with a Dornish lit.

“Oh, Rhaenys, I remembered you too.” He smiled at her. Disbelieving that she was truly before him. 

“No. I mean...” she took a trembled breath “I had Vissy.”

“Vissy?” He was unsure of who or what _her_ Vissy was.

“My sister. I asked Mama to make her my Vissy so I wouldn’t forget you, but I never did.” She returned to his arms. 

Viserys held her head to his chest, and lower his lips to her ear. “I never forgot you either...my daughter...her name is Rhaenysa, Rhaenysa Targaryen.” 

She lifted her dark purple eyes to look at him, eyes wet, nose red and running, with tracks of salt lining her face but he didn’t care. She was alive. Rhaenys Targaryen had returned. The part of the small boy that resides inside him, the one who expected the ground to dissolve when he found happiness, felt a little bit more secure by the return of her presence.


	2. To Judge a Woman's Heart and a Man's Wish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to remind readers (especially those who really dislike Daenerys in any form) that the Daenerys in this story never had the experiences as her canon-counterpart. 
> 
> Dany grew up loved and protected. She has healthy strong solid relationships with people who love her and she trust strongly in that...so please don't judge her to harshly when you read her chapter. 
> 
> Thank you for reading...and enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Daenerys Targaryen has grown up with the knowledge that her father was once a vile man, a person with the ability to inflict brutal pain on others, all in the name of defending his deeds as though the narratives he told himself were true. She knows the story of her mother’s abuse. The dangerous environment her brothers were raised in. 

Her father’s choice to kill the Lords and heirs of the Houses the Targaryens were sworn to rule...a contractual understanding whereas both parties had commitments to adhere to. Aerys Targaryen had not obeyed that implied understanding, and though she loves him truly, her brother Rhaegar forgot himself once and the compounded acts of both men started a shift in the realm that fractured the trust needed for the contract to work. 

There was war so bloody and violent, the likes the kingdom had not seen in many years. It wasn’t like the Greyjoy Rebellion, no. She was led to believe the war was so bad that the realm could not remain united. So Dorne broke away, and even though no one says much about it the North stays far away from anything associated with the name Targaryen. 

Growing up Dany didn’t know about her brother’s deeds, or her good-sister Lyanna’s choice, she just knew them to be her family. They were gentle with her, kind, and they loved her...for that she knew with complete totality. However, she began to hear the careful whispers said about them from the courtiers around the Keep. Then she learned that Rhaegar had another family, one he had lost during the Usurper’s War. A family that could have survived, if he had acted differently. 

This knowledge colored her opinion of them for a small time, but then her mother reminded her that Rhaegar and Lyanna have enough reminders about their past behaviors. Ones they could not avoid, and that she should move forward with them in the spirit they have always shown her. When Dany cheekily told her mother, she hadn’t seen herself following her own advice, Rhaella told her, “Unfortunately Dearheart I am one of those reminders they cannot avoid...as is Viserys.”

This led to Daenerys reconciling the knowledge with her feelings of love towards them. At one and twenty, she is loyal to her brother and good-sister. The convergence of Rhaegar’s first family with his current one has been incredibly overwrought. As she talks with her good-sister Lyanna and her nephew Aemon, Dany has a clearer understanding of their own mental states. 

Lyanna feels alone and frightened...for once again the future is unknown.

As they sat in Lyanna solar, discussing Queen Elia’s coronation, Lyanna released the dam on her emotions. “Oh Dany, I haven’t felt this way since I first arrived to the Keep. That first year was the hardest year of my life. I do not know how to proceed. But then in all fairness I would not have known how to proceed over twenty-years ago. You know they say a Targaryen alone is a terrible thing, I just think those word could apply to anyone. I feel alone Dany. Even with Rhaegar there, and he is here, I do not deny that. It is strained. Our hard-earned peace feels unsettled once again. Sometimes I feel as though there is no end to the ramifications of past choices...their affects just don’t simply cease to ripple after the circumstances have passed.”

With Aemon, he feels getting to know his father’s other family serves as an affront to his own mother...an insult to him and his brothers who learned from the breast the duty placed on a King’s children, regardless if they were the first child or the last. The awareness that his newfound sibling are being afforded the same benefits of their station without knowing the obligation that comes with it makes it difficult to remain among them for long periods of time. 

“I do not know why it upsets me so. It’s not as though my title was taken away and given to someone else. That only impacted Jae, and let’s be honest, he was probably grateful father made the request.” His sly head tilt and begrudging smirk made her chuckle. 

“Yes. I’m sure Jae was happy with the change. But you are right. Your station has not changed. You are still your father’s son. So why are you truly irritated.” Dany looped her arm into Aemon as they walked the length of the beach. 

“They _act_ as though they are better than us. I mean it’s not anything overt, it is subtle, but it is there. They hold themselves apart as well. I am not alone in this. While I do it in the absence of my presence, their side-eyed conversations, forced smiles paired with calculating eyes, does not make for one desiring to remain in their presence.” 

Daenerys looked away from her nephew. Wanting to be the more mature adult in this situation, she found herself agreeing with him in this regard. Dany found it hard to connect with Rhaegar’s new children. Well that’s not completely truthful. Aegon seemed pleasant enough. He looks so much like her brother...both of them actually. He had a beautiful laugh...it was highly contagious. It was his sisters that Daenerys found hard to relate with. 

Both young women presented a courteous demeanor, but Dany always had the feeling they’d rather be with their horses or sparring. Activities she herself does not prefer. When she’s made an effort to include them on her walks about the island, there is a stiltedness in their countenance that makes one think they are being assessed and judge. She could see it when they looked at everyone within their family...Rhaegar, Lyanna, their sons...the only ones exempt were her mother and her brother, Viserys. 

After today’s noonday meal, it was quite clear that Viserys was welcomed into their fold, though Rhaegar, Jae and Daeron have begun to dip themselves into that group as well. As they sat there, Daenerys could only hurt for her good-sister and friend who saw the joyful expression on Viserys’s face as he _basked_ in Elia’s quiet conversation. An appearance he never showed Lyanna, especially when she went out of her way to try to win Viserys’s affection. 

Hmmm...and as for the soon-to-be-queened, Elia, Dany had mixed feelings. They felt petty to voice, for like Aemon, she felt as though she was betraying Lyanna. She could not imagine marrying Renly to have him leave her to take another wife. She doesn’t forget Lyanna’s poor judgement in that regard, and for that Dany has sympathy for Elia. 

But what troubles Dany is that Elia made a choice to stay away...from all of it...from Rhaegar, being a sister-wife, the Crown, the realm. Lyanna and her brother made a life for themselves in that absence, just as Elia had. Dany struggles with her return, for she doesn’t understand why Elia changed her decision to stay away. Elia’s return only serves to throw the ruling family and potentially the realm into chaos...and for what. How does her actions differ from the ones her father and brother brought the nation? They were both driven by selfish intent. 

Daenerys could accept their children returning, but does Elia have to. When she watches the older woman look at her brother with her sister-wife, all she can see is anger, distrust, and hurt. Hmmm, but isn’t that the expression on Lyanna’s face when she observes Rhaegar and Elia together...Dany wonders.

Though a woman of one and twenty and well past marrying age, her own nuptials to come in three moons time, she is more experienced than a young woman of fifteen...as Lyanna once was when this journey began, but there are matters of a married woman’s heart that she does not know. Lyanna’s love and dedication to Rhaegar is clear. They have been in the trenches together for over twenty years. Their love has been forged in fire and tempered in ice, and still they remain a unit. Anyone who knows them can see this, can respect it, even if they might not approve how their story began. 

But sometimes she sees her brother as he watches Elia in the training yard, looking for sport to keep herself _conditioned_ she once said. Sometimes they spar together. During those times she see other looks, gazes Dany is sure Elia wouldn’t want exposed, while Rhaegar does little to conceal his feelings. What she sees surprises her, for under all that hostile anger there is a kernel of love...at least it’s what she’s observed of Elia who seems to typically keep her emotions regarding Rhaegar close to her chest. As for Rhaegar, his intentions towards Elia are clear to even their blind Uncle Aemon. Her brother wants the intimacy he has with Lyanna...he wants the bond, but Elia is determined to keep him at arm’s length. 

Once again her woman’s heart is limited in its experience, a part of Dany can understand Elia’s hesitancy...but then she runs back to her initial question. Why come back, Elia?

In the end, Daenerys silently questions the wisdom of unifying both his families...wives and children. She does not think Rhaegar can reclaim what has been lost to him, but she doesn’t have the heart to tell him so, for there are times she see that he knows...yet he persist. She only hopes this perseverance doesn’t destroy his family the way he almost did with the realm.


	3. The Gods Tossed a Coin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Rhaella Targaryen never enjoyed sea travel very much. It always marvel how she had a child who enjoyed sailing the open seas as often as he could. It warmed her heart to know Viserys’s had arrived. After two moons on Dragonstone with her eldest child and watching his attempts to bridge a connection between his children and his wives, Rhaella admits she was impressed by his fortitude in the face of it all. She does not know if she could have been that strong, but when one is motivated even mountains could be moved. 

Rhaegar was determined, and his children made the effort, but Rhaella could see the strain the request places on them. She has spent a fair amount of time with Rhaenys and Visenya, so she can see it in their controlled smiles and watchful gazes...or in Aegon’s inexplicable absences where she has discovered he spends time in cave with a torch and a book. In Jaehaerys, he spends more time sharpening his sword than he usually does. Aemon disappears more often than not with his aunt. As for young Daeron he retreats to the sea. 

While she thinks upon the ways her grandchildren are trying to adapt, her mind wanders to her good-daughters, Elia and Lyanna.

Elia.

What was there for Rhaella to say? Decades of court life and marriage to Aerys had taught her how to school her features under the harshest of circumstances, but seeing Elia for the first time in so long tossed her hard-earned reputation out of the Keep. Appreciating the momentous occasion for what it was, Rhaella met with Elia in her private sitting chamber. 

Though it was the middle of Summer, the winds could make the castle colder on the inside than out. A servant had just left her solar after tending to the fire in the hearth. Rhaella had just ran her hands over her legs from her seated position, when she heard a firm knock at the door, standing and calling out was reflex from years of training. 

The door opened slowly, and her heart pounded against her breastplate. She saw the recognizable head of her son and King, walk into her chamber, but it was the familiar beauty standing at the entrance that held Rhaella’s attention. If there was one part of Elia Martell Targaryen that always captivated her, then Rhaella would have to say it was her eyes. Those piercing eyes and saw too much, knew too much, and could never forget...no matter how much she might try.

“Mother.” Rhaegar’s voice was more solemn than usual, but given the nature of this visit the tone was more than called for. “I present to you...”

Rhaella’s eyes met Elia’s but she noticed the absent gentle touch Elia placed on his chest, where his heart pulsed, pausing him in mid speech. “Rhaegar...stop, please. I do not think there is any need for introductions.” That voice, the voice of the Rhoynar combined with that of the first men, with the uniqueness that was all hers alone...Elia’s voice. 

Watching her son collect himself, his gaze on Elia, while Elia was focused on her. They both walked to each other, hands width apart the stood.

“Son, I think it best if you allow Elia and I a chance to reacquaint with each other...if it pleases you.” Rhaella spoke in gentle tones, but her son the King knew a polite demand when he heard one...she had raised him after all. 

“Of course. Your Graces.” Rhaegar bowed then exited the room, the sound of the door closing behind him. 

“Speak Elia. I can still see when you have much to say. No need to be shy. We are alone now.” Rhaella gave her good-daughter leave to speak her mind for such a courtesy is what made their relationship work...once upon a time.

“I do not regret taking a chance at survival. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want my children to die. I made the choice when a possibility presented itself. I made a decision with the information I had. I made a judgment. I do not feel remorse about it, but I do feel guilt and shame for letting you grieve for us.” Elia’s was strong in her countenance, but her eyes...the spoke the truth...she was ravaged by the remorse. 

Allowing her body to give into its desired nature, Rhaella embraced Elia tightly as the women wept into each other. The older Queen holding the younger, much as she used to on days when Aerys was particularly relentless in his cruelty. 

Gripping Elia’s chin, Rhaella pressed a firm kiss to the crown of her good-daughter’s head. “I am truly sorry for that, Rhaella.”

“I will say this once. Never to repeat again, but if our situations were reversed, I would have made the same sacrifice. I do not blame you, Elia. Hurt, yes...I am hurt, wounded deeper than you’ll ever know. But I know what remained after you left.” Rhaella took a deep swallow giving herself a moment’s reprieve. Thinking of the chambers, the halls...the destruction...the blood. The waves of dread combined with nausea at the thought that her family had been awake to feel the terror of the moment before they died so violently.

Finding her voice once again, “I couldn’t imagine anyone surviving based on the ruins left behind after the attempts to take Kings Landing. I could not imagine living in the moment of it, Elia. The incapacitating terror you must have felt. I wouldn’t have trusted anybody enough to come back...not then. So, I will acknowledge the wrong you did me _and Viserys_. But I will wrap that sting with the understanding that you made a desperate choice in a desperate time. For that, no further explanation is needed.”

The gentle sweet girl was still in there, under the layers of strong woman, as she lowered her head and cried with such abandon. A very un-Elia-like thing to do, yet the moment called for it. Rhaella reached out for her once again, and let the woman before her release those feelings she tries hard to control. How different she seems, but how much still remains the same, Rhaella thought. 

Taking some time to compose herself, Rhaella turned back to Elia and asked about the children. As it is amongst mothers who love their children, Elia tried to catch Rhaella on all she had missed in the last two decades. 

That was two moons ago, and every day Rhaella learns more about this woman she thinks will be a good Queen when the time comes...just as good a queen she had always thought she could have been.

*****

A knock at the door, followed by the guard announcing her middle and youngest children into her chambers, draws Rhaella away from the needlework project she had begun.

“Hello Sweetlings. Have the servants readied your chambers for tomorrow’s departure?” The family was returning to the Red Keep on the morrow for Elia’s coronation is in a moon’s turn and Daenerys wedding was in two. 

“I am, but then I brought very little.” Viserys small smirk attempted to goad his younger sister. Daenerys just quirked her brow at her brother, clearly not amused. Rhaella turned her head to avoid being seen smiling herself. 

“In all fairness, didn’t your wife bring your household to Kings Landing, Brother?” Daenerys countered. Never one to shy from speaking her mind to her brothers, a trait she wasn’t ever afforded...not with Aerys. It warms her heart to see her daughter living without having known the darkness that was her father. History broken and not repeated. 

“That she does, for that I do not deny. It has been nice getting reacquainted with Elia and her children, but I do miss my home. I have written Jayne and she is very open to the idea of Rhaenys, Visenya, and Daeron coming to visit for a while after Dany’s wedding. I think Rhaegar will permit it.” Her son leaned over to take a pear from the bowl on the table before him. 

“Oh, a shame, to take the Rhaenys and Visenya from your sister.” Rhaella admonished. She had hoped her daughter would have found friendship with the young women, but Rhaella could sense it had not happened. With two large events, she had hoped these opportunities could bring them some shared closeness. The expression on Viserys’s face doubted his sister felt similarly. 

Her daughter hadn’t seen her brother’s expression as she was looking down at a letter she recently received from her betrothed. “It’s perfectly fine, Mother. I have my Ladies and that is all I need.” Her voice cheerful, even when she has dispatched an insult. 

“Daenerys, these women are your family. Wouldn’t it be nice to have female companions that are there because of blood and not because of politics?” With one eye on her daughter, she spies her son capturing another pear, as he watched them in amusement. 

“Hmmm...I think they have proven that blood mean very little wouldn’t you say...or rather their mother did when she took our brother’s...your son’s...children away. Keeping them hidden. That is what they grew up with. There is a taint there that I’d rather protect myself from. They aren’t like Lyanna’s children who grew up with us. It is different. I am sorry to say. I know that saddens you, Mother.”

“Daenerys, it’s not fair to blame them for the choice their mother made, during a time you have no working understanding of. You should not be so judgmental, my dear.” Rhaella attempted to reproved. 

“That’s rich...this logic of yours. Elia’s children are less trustworthy because you distrust Elia, yet Lyanna’s children are more trustworthy because you trust Lyanna.”

“Please...don’t.” Rhaella could see the where this conversation was going and she tried to derail it but she was too late. 

“It is a fact that Elia left our brother...left with his children...his heir to another realm. It is a fact that Lyanna has always been there. She has been a good mother, good-sister too...if you would stop being so stubborn you would know it as well as I do...and she is a good Queen. She has proven herself. You don’t have to like it, but it is factual.”

“Let’s terminate this conversation. Viserys’s please...” Rhaella tried to reason with her son, the more logical of the two.

“Hmmm...by your logic lets asks the Starks if they feel just as strongly as you do. Maybe they too might feel like Lyanna’s sons are tainted. I mean she did elope with a married man while being betrothed to another. Leaving her brother and father to die in their demand of her return...as was their right. Yes, let us send a raven to Lord Stark and ask him if he would agree with your assessment on the trustworthiness of Lyanna. As you were adamant to point out, all these are facts and she has proven herself.” Viserys eyes bled violet as he stared Daenerys down. Her daughter was in shock, as was Rhaella if truth be told. 

“Neither woman is perfect. They both made life altering choices, and innocents suffered for it in different ways. Each decision setting them on a course they currently walk. I am not without blame either. At the heart of it all you will find me to be the source. My children though, they are blameless. While I do think it wise that you proceed with caution, I’ve shared that wisdom with them as well. We do not know each other. That is a fact. But it would be in your best interest to determine how you feel about them based on their own actions and behaviors...and not that of their mother’s.”

Rhaella blood chilled as she heard the hardened voice of Rhaegar from her door. She quickly skated her gaze to Viserys seated on the chair to her left. He was stock-still with his eyes closed. Her eyes rose up to see Daenerys. The young woman sat immobile with her eyes lowered to the ground. No one moved. Rhaella hadn’t felt this vulnerable since Aerys. 

Remembering that though he was her King, Rhaegar was her son, and he was not his father. 

Turning in her seat, she gestured for him to enter the room. “Rhaegar, please come in. I am sorry you heard what you did. I am sure it might have sounded harsh, but we are all trying to find resolution to this reunification in our own ways.” She hoped her eyes implored him to enter and sit, for that is how she felt. 

“There is no need for that. I only came up to tell you that the ships are ready to leave in the morning. We sail at first light. We will parade through the city to the Keep. I came to offer you the option to either ride with us or discreetly return to the castle but perhaps it would be best if you came with us as well.”

“I would gladly ride with your family.” Viserys turned to his brother, his words spoken in absolute earnestness. 

“Of course, my son.” Rhaella smiled her agreement. There was a silence where Daenerys should have spoken, but her daughter always found it hard to remember her brother was king when matters did not benefit her. This private dismissal of protocol was an indulgence Rhaegar allowed, for he refused to be like his father. 

“Very good. I will see all three of you saddled and ready to ride once we arrived.” Rhaella did not miss the sharp glare Rhaegar sent his sister, nor did she miss her daughters acknowledgement of her King’s demand. 

Rhaegar spun on his heels and strode away for her apartments. He was still angry...tense. She wondered which woman would be the beneficiary of her son’s excess ire. In years past, it was Lyanna, but now that Elia has arrived Rhaella has discovered her son has found a new way of working off his excess energies.

*****

Almost an hour later, she and her younger children went in search of Rhaegar to offer a proper apology. She knows her son is dealing with more pressure than most men could handle, regardless of cause or fault. Rhaegar is a good man at his core, but he is not a perfect one. His faults weigh on him as does his guilt, but he has had to harden himself after _”that war”_. He lives his life tightly coiled. Unlike his father, he is intentional with his confrontations, and she searched for him looking to soften his need to redirect his irritation elsewhere.

Following her intuition on where he could be, she stopped by Lyanna’s rooms, only to be told that the Queen Lyanna went to the training yard not too long ago. It seems as though the King was in the midst of an intense sparring bout with _Queen Elia_. Rhaella looked to Viserys, both his brows hiked in surprise. 

“Do you think she is truly fighting him?” He wondered aloud.

“No Lady...no Queen would. Lyanna would not.” Daenerys snorted. Her daughter shaking her head in dismay.

“Pffft...know your history sister. There was a time Lyanna would be dressed to fight. In fact, it was her stint as the Knight of the Laughing Tree that caught Rhaegar’s attention at the start.” Walking out of the Keep to the training yard, they found Lyanna standing with her sons and their half Dornish siblings, as they all overlooked the battle below. Standing by her good-daughter, she provided her Queen with a small smile before looking down at the scene before her. 

Rhaegar and Elia must have been at this for a while. She could see that they were filthy and sweaty as they circled around each other. Elia twirling a long staff in her hands, but never did her eyes leave Rhaegar’s. Her son has a sword in his hand...a live steel sword...and he brandished it almost as a taunt to Elia. His eyes calculated as he inventoried the prey before him. 

Running towards her, his sword raised, Elia met it with strength of the staff. Rhaegar was relentless as his sword alternated coming towards Elia from either side of her body. He never slowed down...moving forward. Rhaella thought, he did so in a rush to make the woman fall. 

It was shocking to see, but Elia’s feet moved expertly while her balance kept her upright. The Dornish woman countered at a rhythm that matched her son’s as her rod made contact with his blade. 

The efforts he made to strike her staff had elicited a grunt. The efforts she made to block his intentions had produced countered cries. The blended sounds they made weren’t lost on the observers, Rhaella thought. At least not those who have witnessed or sampled carnal delights. 

Through it all Rhaegar and Elia never lost sight of each other. Their gazes seemed to run hot from Rhaella’s vantage point. She could only imagine what Lyanna must be thinking. It saddens Rhaella that it is now that they must face the pains of a joined union...now in this point in their lives...not when they were younger and more malleable. 

Just when it looked as though Ser Arthur was to call a draw, Elia pushed her staff forcefully to meet the blow of his blade. As she pushed up, the angle brought his blade inward a bit and as Rhaegar attempted to make a quick adjustment to counter, Elia caught his right knee with her foot as she kicked it. This threw off his balance and finding her opening, her rod continued to press forward against Rhaegar’s sword, the large man began to fall backwards. 

As Rhaegar made his descent she unsheathed the lower part of her staff to reveal a blade. When Rhaegar’s back hit the dirt, Elia straddled his chest...gaining more leverage to knock his weapon out of his hand with one half of the post, while with her other hand she held a blade pressed to his neck. 

The courtyard was eerily still. Rhaella could not believe what she just witness. Her King, and son, fought his Dornish wife...and lost. No one moved. Not even the combatants in the yard. The only sounds determined to make their way through the silence were those panting breaths of her son and good-daughter. The way they stared at each other, Rhaegar on the ground and Elia bestriding his heaving body, alerted Rhaella to the signs. 

She recognized that the couple before her were having a private conversation...everything communicated through their eyes and their breathlessness. It was a conversation that would leave the household in a dither as everyone will speculate upon what will happen next. 

Elia finally rose, reattaching her staff as she did so. She turned away from Rhaegar and made her way back to the castle. Her hips rolling lazily as she walked away, without turning back. Her son stood and watched her, his gaze consuming each step she took. Eyes burning with things a mother should not acknowledge about her child...even if he is a man grown. 

Looking to her right she could see Viserys expression, it must have looked much like hers, an acute understanding of what was to occur once Rhaegar and Elia left the yard and reunited once again behind closed doors. As she turned to her Northern good-daughter, her stoical countenance told Rhaella that Lyanna was extremely clear as to what was going to happen next as Lyanna’s watched her husband trail his Dornish Queen. 

Lyanna’s departure, with Daenerys at her side, warmed Rhaella a bit. While she acknowledges how she feels about Lyanna, she doesn’t wish the woman ill or further suffering. She hopes her daughter could serve as a friend for her good-sister in a moment of need. The rest of Rhaegar’s children departed as well. Some together, as she can see Visenya, and Daeron walking toward the stables while Jae and Aegon decided to visit their father’s library. Rhaenys began taking a walking path towards the coastal hills, while Aemon went towards the seaside. 

Turning back to see that her son remained with her, she forced a smile she did not feel. 

“This just became more complicated, hasn’t it?” Viserys murmured as his eyes followed Aemon, his gaze saddened. 

Shaking her head, Rhaella was conflicted on such matters. Lacing her arm through her younger son, Rhaella thinks about the famed Gods and wonders if they are almost done writing the saga that is Rhaegar and his wives...for she isn’t sure how much they all can handle. 

“If you willingly enter a snake pit or a wolves den, and such creatures are aggrieved and aggravated, I do not think adding one more makes much of a difference. If he gets this just right, he will break and heal them until they are ready to mend at the same time. This is your brother’s lot, as well as the women who stand at his side.”

*****

The moment of truth had arrived. All seated on horses and ready to make the journey through the city to the Red Keep. Rhaegar led the procession, flanked by his Queens...Lyanna on his right and Elia on his left. Following directly behind where Aegon and Jaehaerys, each young man behind his mother as their sibling rode behind them. Seated on her favorite mare, she trailed her grandchildren, as her children skirted behind her...Viserys on her left and Daenerys on her right.

As the family rode through the procession, their people were tossing flowers, screaming and yelling for the King and his sister-wives. 

_“Blessed the Sevens, the King Rhaegar is back!”_

_“Aegon and his sister-wives reborn.”_

_“The Stranger has returned Queen Elia and her children! Gods be good.”_

_“Queen Lyanna, Prince Jaehaerys, Prince Aemon, Prince Daeron!”_

_“Princess Daenerys! Prince Viserys!”_

_“Kind and gracious Queen Mother!”_

And on it went from the moment they became noticed to the gates of the Keep. As a young guard helped her down from her horse, she saw the King’s Hand...Lord Jon Connington and the Small Council awaiting their return as per Rhaegar’s instruction. 

The protection and privacy they all felt on Dragonstone was now gone, as the sheer veil that separates both worlds, slides off of them as they all enter the Red Keep. Schooling her features, she can only hope she has prepared her older grandchildren for the dangers of court. Elia had trained them well, but Rhaella brought them knowledge of the possible dangers that currently reside in Court. 

Looking at each grandchild, she can see carefully constructed expressions of neutrality shared by all. The purpose being to keep their true thought sealed in a vault behind their eyes, smiles, and superfluous conversation. Regardless of how the future may pan out for their parents, Rhaella is determined to help Rhaegar block any attempts by greedy Houses to seed another Dance of Dragons. No. Not her line...not in her lifetime nor her son’s. 

Only time will tell if they will be met with good fortune. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoy writing Rhaella's POV. I think besides Rhaegar, she is invested in all her grandchildren finding their way as a unit. Just as Aerys and Rhaegar's could have been the death of their House, the introduction of all these children (young adults) could lead to the destruction of her House once again. 
> 
> Nothing may happen, but she has no guarantee that it won't so she's motivated to be watchful and use her influence as their Grandmother to quash any extreme discord.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought I was done with Rhaegar and his wives...but I think I have another part in mind for them...but I think I might start on their children. 
> 
> Lordy this has spiral...seriously this was supposed to be a one-shot...lol. If you are still interested, I will pull out a few more parts. 
> 
> Thanks for reading...and like always _thank you for the comments, kudos, and subscriptions...I appreciate that you like the story enough to say so._


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